Movies
‘Rec’ Directors Return for Not One, But TWO Sequels!!!
Two of the best films I’ve seen this past decade were Filmax’s verite zombie/possession flicks Rec and Rec 2 (in theaters this July). While the Spanish brain children behind the pic, Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero, have openly said they won’t return to direct, it’s hard to ignore such big international success as the duo will now split directing responsibilities for two new films! Read on for the skinny.
Major Spanish studio Filmax will produce two new [REC] films in the next couple of years called [REC] Genesis and [REC] Apocalypse from the same directors as the first two [REC] films.
[REC] directors Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero will split directing responsibilities for the two films. Plaza will direct the first film Genesis, which much like the Batman and Star Trek franchises will return to the origin of the original infection that caused humans to turn into zombies.
Paco Plaza and Luis Alejandro Berdejo (The New Daughter) will co-write Genesis with Balaguero actively involved in the development of the project. The film is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2011.
Apocalypse will be directed by Balaguero and will end the [REC] saga with the pandemic spreading to unknown proportions. Plaza will assist on the project, which is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2012.
“We were overwhelmed by the audience’s reaction to [REC]. It was precisely this which inspired us to keep going with [REC]2. Again, the great support we have received from audiences and Filmax motivates us to investigate the [REC] idea even further,” say Plaza and Balagueró.
Cast, budgets and shooting details are yet to be confirmed for either project.
“We are really excited about the prospect of two new and completely revolutionary [REC] films,” says Julio Fernández, president of Filmax.
The first two [REC] films proved hugely popular in Spain with the first taking $12m back in 2007 and the second $8m last year, and both sold widely abroad.
The two new [REC] films will be presented at the Cannes market by Filmax.
Two things that have proven to be pretty dependable at the box office in recent years are horror movies and Christopher Nolan movies. With Nolan’s The Odyssey absolutely dominating the box office this past weekend, many fans of Nolan’s work have been left hungry for a Nolan-directed horror movie. After all, The Odyssey does whet the appetite for Nolan nightmare fuel.
Christopher Nolan has brushed up against the horror genre in the past with 2002 thriller Insomnia, but does he have any interest in someday making a full-on horror movie?
Nolan tells the Empire Podcast in a new chat, “I’ve always been interested in doing a horror film.”
“But horror is most successful when the conceptual framework of whatever the story is is just so undeniable. I think there are very few really great horror movies,” Nolan continues.
So why hasn’t Christopher Nolan directed a horror movie yet?
He explains to Empire, “I’ve never clicked with a particular idea or concept that worked for me. I love the genre. Of all genres, it’s the most visceral. Where the direct response to the audience is the most important. That is to say, you’re trying to make people literally feel something in their bones about what’s going on on-screen.”
Nolan calls horror “a genre in which experimentation is demanded.” He explains, “I go to see a lot of horror films with my kids these days, and you’ll see things in the first half an hour, 45 minutes of any horror film that you’d never see in another genre. Risks that are taken. Dangerous approaches to things. Admittedly, a lot of movies can’t sustain that to the end. But in the horror genre, that kind of innovation is not just respected – it’s really demanded.”
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is now playing in theaters.
Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
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